Test drive BMW X1: battle of the sexes

If so far you've never exceeded the speed limit to the point where they take away your license, BMW is the best way to start. More precisely, you simply won't have any other alternatives. This is exactly the case when the car determines consciousness. With such a car, you always have to compete, speaking a common language both understand. Communicating with the “Bavarian,” you won't get the synthetic confidence in victory that ordinary, technically perfect, and artificially beautiful cars give. Instead, you always feel the most valuable thing – confidence in your own strength and skill, which is what should bond you with this car.

All BMWs have a family character, whether it's a coupe, sedan, wagon, or crossover. The new X1 is no exception. It's accepted into the family: another BMW, any model and any year, will always let it pass in a traffic jam.

As with all BMWs, about the X1 you can say the same set of worn-out but still accurate and thrilling phrases: predatory “nostrils,” “eyes” burning with passion for speed, body contours filled with strength. It's not shy about being a mocking rude guy, and everyone will have to reckon with that.

What is it? Crossover? Off-road wagon? Crossover SUV? And in person, it's smaller than it seems. Inside – a typical BMW-style cockpit. Excellent seats, benchmark ergonomics, a chunky steering wheel, textured Bavarian plastic, and a typical car-like seating position. You'd never guess there's 195 millimeters of ground clearance here. But why talk about it for long when everyone getting into a car with the propeller craves very specific impressions from it.

To classify our own impressions, we took two modifications for a test: diesel and petrol – and divided the emotions by gender.

Ruslan: BMW xDrive23d
The engine is a song! I got the 204-horsepower diesel version xDrive23d. Only the 1-Series coupe and X1 have this one. Great dynamics up to 140 km/h. 400 Nm of torque – no joke, right? The claimed 0-100 km/h time is 7.3 seconds – just half a second less than the 258-horsepower top version BMW X1 xDrive28i. The 6-speed automatic matches it. The rate of fire is just right. The intelligence didn't disappoint either: it downshifts on time, and when needed, holds a higher gear and on throttle lift-off.
The stiff chassis makes you forget about the increased ground clearance. The BMW X1 holds its line precisely, the steering feedback is amazing, and there's almost no body roll. Sharp and precise reactions to all driver inputs. A real BMW!

True, the roots of the “X-first” are obvious. As with the platform-sharing BMW 3-Series, in ruts the steering wheel tries to tear out of your hands, and passengers' rear ends receive all signals about road surface imperfections with “digital” quality. They're like brothers. Minor differences in suspensions, a different power steering. But the character is the same!

And if there's no difference, why pay more? As for me, the main competitor of the BMW X1 is the all-wheel-drive 3-Series wagon, and it's closer to me in philosophy. So what is the X1 made for? Right, for the fair half, especially since 90% of those surveyed are crazy about the “X-first”!

Svetlana: BMW xDrive28i
We're crazy about it. And how could you not like a 258-horsepower engine with 310 Nm of torque, an “automatic” that intuitively understands all intentions, and handling that's ideal to the point of complete fusion?

It will provoke you. As soon as you arrive at your destination, you'll want to get back behind the wheel again – and start off, race, burst into the sleepy traffic, shoving everyone aside, cut corners, turn up the music loudly, and open the windows to the wind. Speed goes unnoticed – until red-and-blue flashing lights appear in the rearview mirror. The delight is frightening because it stops being under control. To drive a BMW, you have to be ready to experience these emotions every day. Is everyone ready for such categoricalness? This isn't moving from point A to point B; it's driving.

- Does it drive well? – asked the traffic cop who caught up.
- It drives great, and it digs well too!

That's really true. You can see the car-like dynamic behavior of the “X” on the highway, but since it's a crossover with pretensions to reasonable off-roading, it makes sense to try leaving the asphalt. A ground clearance of 19 cm and all-wheel drive are a good claim to victory. Having sunk almost to the middle of the shiny wheel rims in the sticky, deep mud of the thawing spring Moscow region, the stylish “Bavarian” got out of captivity without difficulty. The only vulnerable point is the long front overhang. Despite the fact that the preferred habitat for the “X-first” is smooth city highways, preferably without ruts, in the suburbs the crossover won't back down. With it, you're not afraid to end up in a snowdrift near your home or after a downpour where they forgot to lay a road.

The BMW X1 is the quintessence of a passenger car and a crossover. It's the case when you don't have to sacrifice anything to get everything. Especially if that “everything” is of a sparkling bronze-chocolate color, like our X1..

How much does it cost? Who cares!

A few facts
The rear seat back of the Bavarian crossover folds in three sections, expanding the possible transformations of the cargo space. Folded seats form a flat floor and a loading space of 1350 liters versus 420 in the five-seat configuration.

The rear view camera with guidelines is a pleasant surprise, making parking much easier thanks to its clarity. The data is displayed on the central screen, which in terms of graphics is not inferior to a mid-range plasma TV. It also shows the navigation system and stereo readings, as well as data from the onboard computer and vehicle condition monitoring systems. Everything is controlled via the intuitively logical iDrive dial.

About the price. The opportunity to own an X1 starts from 1,274,000 rubles. This is a car with a 2.0-liter 150-horsepower engine and manual transmission; for the "automatic" - another 86,800 rubles. A car with a 2.0-liter 177-horsepower diesel will cost at least 1,524,000 rubles. The xDrive23d we tested costs from 1,644,000 rubles. A car with a 3.0-liter 218-horsepower engine costs at least 1,729,000 rubles. The top version xDrive28i starts from 1,794,000 rubles. Our bronze BMW xDrive28i with leather interior, electric drive and heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, navigation system, panoramic roof, bi-xenon, rear view camera, light and rain sensors costs 2,765,000 rubles.

Svetlana Aleeva, Ruslan Galimov